Avoid damage by securing your hose reel

In food and pharmaceutical production, efficiency is about more than just fast batch changes. It's about creating a safe environment where the equipment works with the operator – not against them. This is where an industrial hose reel is an indispensable addition. We often see them installed in washrooms, at tank facilities and in commercial kitchens, where frequent cleaning and disinfection are part of everyday life. By lifting the hose off the floor, you not only protect your employees from tripping accidents, but also ensure a significantly higher standard of hygiene, as the hose does not lie on the floor collecting bacteria in damp environments. It is a simple investment that creates order, reduces wear and tear and optimises your flow. 

But even the most robust hose reel poses a hidden challenge. When a heavy industrial hose is rolled up uncontrollably at high speed, a sensible tool quickly becomes a serious safety risk for you and your colleagues. 

Without control of the hose reel, the hose can whip through the room, creating a risk of serious injury to employees or damage to sensitive process equipment. That is why we always recommend that a hose reel be considered as a complete solution, with the safety brake included from the outset. The brake acts as a speed regulator, taming the force of the spring and ensuring that the retraction is smooth and steady. 

By purchasing a safety brake, you will experience significant benefits in your production environment: 

• Accident prevention: You eliminate the risk of a runaway hose hitting people nearby. 
• Controlled stopping: The mechanism ensures that the hose stops gently, so that spray guns, for example, do not fly through the air and get damaged at the end stop.  
• Gentle handling of the hose: Controlled winding means that the hose is not ‘slammed’ onto the drum and subjected to unnecessary shocks and impacts. 

If you already have our stainless steel hose reels in operation, you do not need to replace well-functioning equipment to take safety to a new level. Our safety brake is designed for retrofitting to existing units, making the upgrade both simple and economically viable. The kit can be integrated without major changes to your current installation and fits perfectly with our most popular models, such as the AFT 1000–1100 AV, AFT 1200–1300 AV and AFT 3500 AV. 

By retrofitting the brake, you can target safety at workstations where employees frequently pass through, while harmonising standards across the entire production line. This ensures uniform and controlled winding, regardless of whether your hose reels are brand new or have been in use for many years. 

To create a complete safety solution, you should focus on the point where the load is greatest: the transition between the hose and the coupling. Here, we recommend taking a look at our rubber hose protector, which acts as a protective layer on the outer section of the hose. It gives you: 

• Extra mechanical protection against wear and impact precisely where the hose bends, is connected and disconnected, and is pulled the most. 
• Extended hose life by relieving the outer area of the hose, where damage typically occurs first. 
• Protection against heat, making the surface safer for employees to touch when the installation becomes hot during operation. 

A rubber hose protector provides a more robust setup, where both the hose and coupling better withstand the combined effects of heat, pressure and repeated movements. And most importantly, you address yet another safety factor for your employees on the shop floor. 

Are you curious about hose protectors? In this video, we review our other popular variants and highlight when to choose one over the other. 

The choice between a manual stainless steel hose reel and a stainless steel hose reel with safety brake is not about the right or wrong product. It is about matching the solution to your specific operating situation. We look at the media, temperatures and pressures the hoses will have to handle, while also assessing your daily usage pattern – in other words how often the hoses are pulled out and rolled in. 

Call us on +45 7020 0422 or send an email to inquiry@alfotech.eu – and we will take a look at your specific needs.